Missions
by CamoFrogadier
Summary: Steven and Connie go on their first mission without the gems, accompanied by the goofball, Lion. Short story.
1. Chapter One

Today was a wonderful day for Steven and Connie. They'd both perfected their sword fighting, and -after _lots_ of negotiating- the gems finally let them go on a mission together! Lion was going to come along, as Steven kept insisting that they absolutely needed the pink goofball to join them.

Connie and Lion stood on the warp pad. Connie'd brought one of Pearl's swords, of course. Steven was checking that he had everything in his cheeseburger backpack. After checking, and double checking, Steven ran up the warp pad and shouted "Ready!"

The other gems waved them goodbye as the familiar light surrounded the warp pad. "Do you think they'll be okay, what if this is too much for them?" Pearl asked _,_ still looking at the warp. Amethyst tried reassuring the spear user: "They'll be fine, Pearl. Besides, I don't think Lion would let Steven or Connie get hurt."

"Plus he can teleport." Garnet added. Pearl relaxed a little. They were right. Steven and Connie could handle themselves, and they had a teleporting Lion with them.

They'd do fine, _just fine._

 _•••_

"Isn't it amazing, Steven? The chance to fight side by side, just like Lisa and Arcamicaris!" Connie exclaimed as they were warping. Lion nuzzled her. "And we brought an ally!" she added. Steven looked at the dark haired girl. His eyes seemed to sparkle, and it was obvious he was just as excited as she was. "Ya! I mean, without one of us being a falcon."

The two friends chuckled as they finally landed on the other warp. "We should get moving." Connie said, looking at her surroundings. It was pretty obvious they were in a forest, as trees covered a large amount of the area, but it seemed to emit a creepy aura or something. Steven and Connie shivered, Lion just yawned.

"Hmm..." Steven looked around.

Lion started to walk away. "Lion? Lion don't go! We can't lose our only ally!" Steven called out. But Lion seemed to ignore him. Connie looked at her friend, who was still trying to persuade Lion to come back, than at Lion. _He always seems to attract something magical when he wanders off like that,_ she thought."Maybe we should follow him." the sword fighter ended up suggesting.

"Lion _does_ seem to connect to magical stuff..." Steven reasoned, looking at Lion as he knocked down trees with his powerful roar. "Great! Let's go!" Connie exclaimed walking to lion, gesturing for Steven to follow. Lion looked at the two before laying down. Steven and Connie got on quickly. Lion looked at the warp before getting up, and letting out a roar, creating a portal. "Away!" Connie yelled as they entered the portal.

To Connie, it was just as magical as the first time she'd rode Lion.

When they got to the other side, they didn't know what to expect. Connie got off gracefully, while Steven hit the ground with a thud. The three had ended up in some sort of dungeon area. "What is this place?" Connie asked. Steven looked at Lion before replying:

"I have no idea."

A few torches lit up the area, so it wasn't that dark, but the dungeon was still creepy. Lion started to walk off again, Connie and Steven walked beside him.

"So, when we find the gem, how are we going to attack?" Connie asked. Steven looked up, as if in thought. "Well, you're better than me at sword fighting, so you could use mom's sword. I'd use my shield!" he made a pose. "And we could protect each other!"

"Ya!" Connie agreed raising her fist. The two looked at each other and laughed. Lion growled, as if reminding them they were on a mission and that he was still there. Steven looked at his pink companion, who was waiting for them to catch up.

"We're coming Lion!" Steven shouted.

•••

Pearl was pacing, Garnet was watching her, and Amethyst was making a sandwich. "What if they don't come back alright? Or Connie's parents come over and find out she's doing this? Or-" Pearls list went on. Honestly, the purple gem had stopped listening a while ago. They'd only been gone for like, thirty minutes. It's not like they were still there after a day or something.

Amethyst wasn't really that worried. Steven could handle it, Connie was great with a sword, and Lion was... Lion. She thought that they'd probably do great on a mission together. Hopefully Pearl would stay at the temple and not go after them. Hopefully.

Adding one last thing to her sandwich, Amethyst was done with her food creation. She then proceeded to eat it, and it was gone in a few seconds.

Steven, Connie and Lion would do fine on the mission, Pearl was just overreacting, Amethyst thought, looking at a certain gem.


	2. Chapter Two

Steven groaned. "Could we take a break? We've been walking forever." He than added dramatically, "If we don't stop I don't think I could go on much longer.."

Connie turned to look at Steven. He did look tired, and they had been walking for a while...

"Okay, we can rest for a little." she finally decided.

Lion stopped and Steven cheered in joy. The half gem half human leaned against a stone wall and fell asleep. Connie looked at the boy. He could handle all this magic stuff so effortlessly; while she was already nervous. She then turned to Lion, who sat next to Steven in a protective way. After a few minutes of thinking she sat next to them and it was her turn to close her eyes.

•••

"Connie! Connie! Connie!"

Connie jolted awake to meet a worried Steven yelling her name. "What-" she started but Steven cut her off. "There's a gem monster! Lion's fighting it off, but I think we should help him." he looked at Lion, who was in fact fighting a magical gem creature that looked similar to a giant spider. "I don't think it has a gem, so there could be more!" he added.

Connie blinked twice, as if it would help her adapt to the situation, then unsheathed her sword. "Charge!" she yelled, running towards the gem spider, Steven right behind her.

The sword fighter made the first move, slicing one of the creature's legs off. It was already weak from fighting Lion, and it seemed that it couldn't take much more damage. She struck it a few more times, dodging when it tried to attack, and that, along with Steven's help and Lion's roars, was enough make it poof.

Connie then leaned against a wall, panting. She placed her sword back into it's scabbard. Steven walked over to her. "Connie? Are you alright?" he asked her quietly. She nodded, took a few more deep breaths, than walked up to him. "That was really cool! I can't wait to get to the boss!" she stated, brimming with joy. Whatever Steven had expected her to say, it wasn't that. "Then onwards!" he shouted, and they continued to follow Lion.

•••

They had encountered many more gem spiders, though most of them weren't very hard to poof. Still, it was exciting for Steven and Connie. They felt proud of the fact that they could protect each other without the other gems' help.

Lion suddenly stopped. "I think he found something!" Steven shouted. He stopped where Lion stopped to see what the pink goofball was looking at.

Lion had stopped walking near the entrance of a room. It was too dark to see inside, but Steven was sure that the spider monster with a gem was somewhere in the darkness. He looked at Connie. She grabbed the handle of her sword.

The half gem, pink lion, and young girl cautiously walked in. Torches suddenly lit up, illuminating the room. In the center was a large gem spider, the gem located on it's back. The creature had many eyes and legs, and most of it was a dark shade of blue.

It screeched and ran towards the three.


	3. Chapter Three

Connie, Steven and Lion leaped out of the way and the giant gem spider ended up ramming into the doorway. Connie unsheathed her sword and Steven's shield was out. Lion seemed alert and ready to help. The corrupted gem backed out of the wall and shrieked again. It didn't seem very effected.

"Connie, cover me!" Steven shouted, heading to Lion. Connie just nodded. She knew what he was going to do, and in this situation it really was necessary. The gem spider charged, but she was ready. The sword fighter jumped out of the way before the thing could ram into her. This time after recovering it sent a sticky looking web in her direction.

Connie tried to jump out of the way, but the web caught onto her foot, tripping her. The spider took the moments she used trying to get up as the opportunity to strike, effectively ramming into Connie and knocking her into a wall. Knocking her sword out of her hand in the process.

Connie got up, but slowly. She was clearly hurt, with bruises and a bloody nose. The spider was going to charge again, but another figure bounded to her. "Steven!" she said happily. There in front of her was Steven, riding Lion, struggling to carry his mother's shield and sword.

"Connie, you're hurt!" he said sadly. The sword fighter looked behind the half gem and pink lion and shouted:

"STEVEN, LOOK OUT!"

Lion turned around quickly and Steven struggled to stay on. The spider gem was running straight for him, but the two stood their ground. At the moment the corrupted gem would have hit him, his shield expanded, effectively knocking the gem back. It looked bewildered for a moment, and that's when Lion charged.

Connie watched in awe. Steven held his sword high and stabbed the spider gem's side. The corrupted gem was gone in a _poof._

It's gem landed on the stone floor with a little clink. Steven's shield went away, and he got off Lion. Then he returned him mom's sword. The half gem walked over to the blue gem left behind and picked it up. He walked over to Connie and they stared at it for a little. Then Steven bubbled it.

Connie looked at Steven with a smile. "We should do this again!"

•••

They boarded Lion into the portal and after a moment ended up in the eerie forest. "We did it!" Steven exclaimed happily. "The gems are going to be so proud!"

Connie yawned then looked at her companion. "That was awesome!" she said drowsily "But now I need sleep." Steven nodded his agreement.

Lion stepped onto to the warp with the two friends, and they were gone in a flash.


	4. Chapter Four

"We're back!" Steven shouted when they arrived in the temple. Pearl came running to them, practically drowning the two kids with questions. Connie yawned before replying. "We're fine, Pearl. Just a little bruised up."

Pearl sighed with relief. "I'm just glad you're all okay."

"I told you they'd be fine on their own!" Amethyst called out, causing Pearl look at her with an annoyed expression.

"Whaaaaat?" the purple gem said in a mocking tone "It's true."

Pearl just glared and turned back to Steven, Lion, and Connie. "Anyways... We're all so proud of you two! I mean, this was only your first mission! Imagine what we could do next! The places I could take you two!" the spear user's eyes seemed to sparkle. "Maybe one day I could show you two space..!" She smiled. "But first we need to get you two cleaned up."

Connie and Steven got off Lion. They got themselves cleaned up and put a few band aids on Connie's little cuts. After saying their goodbyes, she headed home.

Garnet and Pearl went into their rooms while Amethyst stayed back. "Hey, Steven." she called out, catching his attention."Good job, buddy." she said a little hesitantly.

Steven yawned and flopped onto his bed. "Thanks, Amethyst." he replied happily. A minute or so later Amethyst could hear the half gem snoring.

Amethyst smiled, then quietly entered her room in the temple.

 **End**

 **So this is how my first fanfic ends. Special thanks to the people who favorited, followed, or reviewed this story. I know the chapters are short and I need lots of practice, but congrats on making it this far! It was probably a cringe worthy experience! Tell me what you think of this story, or just list ways I could improve. Either's okay with me. Anyways, you're finally done! Yay!**


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